Mieczysław Widai ( English Mieczysław Widaj ; September 12, 1912, Mostiska - January 11, 2008, Warsaw ) - Polish Communist, military judge, colonel of the armed forces of the NDP . Until 1945 - an officer in the Home Army . After the Communists came to power, he joined the PPR - PORP . In 1945 - 1952 - Deputy Chairman of the Warsaw District Military Court, in 1953 - 1956 - Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Military Court. He played a prominent role in political repression, handed down more than a hundred death sentences against participants in anti-communist resistance, including soldiers of the Craiova Army.
| Mieczyslaw Vidai | |
|---|---|
| polish Mieczysław widaj | |
 | |
| Date of Birth | September 12, 1912 |
| Place of Birth | Mostiska |
| Date of death | January 11, 2008 (95 years old) |
| A place of death | Warsaw |
| Affiliation |  NDP |
| Type of army | artillery, military justice |
| Years of service | 1945 - 1957 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Battles / wars | anti-Nazi resistance (1939-1945); repression against the anti-communist opposition (1945-1956) |
Content
- 1 Lawyer and officer
- 2 Communist judge
- 3 After the resignation
- 4 Funeral movements
- 5 See also
- 6 notes
Lawyer and Officer
In 1934 he graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Jan Kazimierz . He served in the artillery school of Vladimir-Volynsky . In 1938 received the rank of lieutenant of artillery. He transferred to the judiciary, in 1939 he was a judge in Mostiska , then in Przemysl .
In September 1939, he participated in battles with the Germans , and commanded an artillery platoon. He joined the anti-Nazi armed underground , was an officer in the Home Army ( AK ) [1] .
Communist Judge
In March 1945 he joined the Polish army under the communist command. He was appointed judge of the Warsaw garrison, then the Lodz Military District. In 1948 he joined the PUWP and took the post of deputy chairman of the district military court in Warsaw, since 1952 - chairman of the court. In 1954 - 1956 - Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Military Court. He had the military rank of colonel .
According to Polish sources, from 1945 to 1953, Mieczyslaw Widai passed 106 death sentences [2] to representatives of the anti-communist opposition and members of the armed resistance, including soldiers and officers of the Craiova Army (which he himself had previously been in).
In particular, according to Vidaya’s sentences, AK lieutenant colonel Anthony Olekhnovich , Major Zygmunt Shenzelyazh , Captain Henryk Borowski , lieutenants Zygmunt Szymanowski and Stefan Bronarsky , second lieutenant Mechislav Gagorovsky , warrant officers Lucian Minkevich and Adam Miretsky , activist of the Union, were shot and killed. Vidai also issued a death sentence against the pilot Stanislav Skalsky , but he was pardoned by the decision of Boleslav Bierut . We were sentenced to life imprisonment by Weed Lieutenant Colonel Jan Mazurkevich (author of the call for the dissolution of the AK), second lieutenant AK Lidiya Lvova . Vidai was sentenced to 12 years in prison by Bishop Cheslav Kaczmarek .
The activity of Colonel Seeing as a military judge was a prominent factor in political repression in post-war Poland.
After resignation
In December 1956 , after the death of Bierut and against the backdrop of de-Stalinization , Mieczyslaw Vidai was removed from the judicial position and transferred to the reserve. In 1957, dismissed from the military justice.
Prior to retirement, he worked as a private lawyer. He was not prosecuted, received a double pension - civil and military [3] . Died at the age of 95.
Funeral Moves
It was supposed to bury Mechislav Vidaya at the parish cemetery at the church of St. Catherine in Warsaw. However, hundreds of fighters of the anti-communist underground are buried in this cemetery. Vidaya’s burial plan caused numerous prostests, including well-known politicians, including Zbigniew Romaszewski , then vice-chairman of the Senate [4] . As a result, the Vidaya family abandoned their original intention.
Mieczyslaw Vidai was buried in another Warsaw cemetery. His grave was repeatedly desecrated. In 2009, the remains of Vidaya had to be exhumed and transferred from Warsaw to the cemetery in Grodzisk Mazowiecki .
See also
- Stefan Michnik